The great outdoors!!

The boys had a "father and son's" camp out this weekend and they had a great time!! The girl's and I (and Preston) went shoe shopping while they were gone and we had a great time too. :)

The boys had to show the rest of us where they went camping, so we went hiking and rock climbing there on Saturday afternoon. It was so nice to be outside and enjoying the weather!! YEAH!

The boys by a bunch of cactus
Ashton holding up a huge boulder!!

Cute Preston in the grass

A picture with just Adam and I? Weird! :)

Liv needed a picture taken too. Sweet girl!

Mid air!!!! I wish my camera was zoomed more! Preston was LOVING it!

Aaron jumping off the rocks.

The kiddos

Preston and Mommy.

Another picture of just Adam and I. (Preston was at my feet, Ashton is hiding behind us, Livi is crying, and Aaron was jumping off rocks. Ella was our photographer as we ignored all the chaos.) :)

Fun with grandparents! (Spoiled really)

My parents came for just a fun visit this week. In the middle of all of our normal chaos, we still managed to have a really great time!! Thanks mom and dad for taking the time to come see us. We love you and don't get to see you enough! For family night we went to "Randy's Tumbling".....it was so CRAZY!!! but a TON of fun. What more could a bunch of kids ask for than padded walls, trampolines and a foam pit?!

And a rock climbing wall

Preston just got to be held all night. :)

Dad even jumped off the platform into the foam pit.....and Livia even jumped!!! (That scared me more than I care to admit!) Yes, I'm an over-protective mom. (no pics of Liv because I was too busy panicking)

Dad getting some snuggling time.

My mom got a couple of good pics of some of the kids...

Aaron

Ashton

Livia (Thanks Marla for the shirts! I owe you $3 sometime!--put it on my tab! hahaha)

And Preston!

While I was teaching piano, my parents took the kids to the zoo. It was a beautiful day!

And we've missed this handsome guy for a couple of days this week.

So I took the kids to a park that was super fun, and "dangerous". aka...has a merry-go-round.

and teeter totters

Preston was loving the grass

cute boy!

Thanks mom and dad for those great couple of days! And we even got a glimpse of some nice weather! If only it will last!

Easter and a birthday!!!

We had a busy weekend. It was Easter (obviously) and Ashton's 5th birthday was Saturday!!! Happy birthday to Ashton!! He has been looking forward to his birthday for a while!!
He had a tall order for his cake.....Harry Potter of course----and he wanted, "When Harry was casting the Expeliaramous charm and Voldemort was doing the Avada Kadavra curse and the spells collide and then Voldemort dies...." hmmmmm.........so........I printed out a picture of that "scene" and held it above the cake. And he thought it was the coolest cake ever! phew! (And he didn't just want 5 candles, because that was boring and not a challenge at all to blow out, so....he got the whole box! Happy Birthday to my favorite 5 year old!!

I had a piano festival that morning and was worried I wouldn't be there when he woke up and wanted to open presents....silly me......6:30 and all the presents were torn into!

Harry Potter Legos from Grandma and Grandpa were a hit all day!

And Adam made him a Harry Potter broom! Which was pretty much the coolest present any 5 year old, Harry Potter obsessed, boy could ever even dream of.

Look side-ways :) It's Ashton on a broom!

Preston is a rolling machine! We'll just enjoy this before he starts crawling.

Later that day we "colored" Easter eggs. Did you notice I didn't say dyed? Nope....colored with washable crayons. They loved it. Who knew it could be that easy?!

This is Ella coloring an egg.

And Livi concentrating hard on coloring her egg. She broke about 4 of the eggs. :)

Easter day we went to Adam's parents house. It was a beautiful day!!

My boys. :)

Livia with cousin Brooklyn

And at Grandma and Grandpa's house they dyed eggs. That's fine with me....if they want to deal with the mess then more power to them! (We're sticking with just crayons at our house)

Happy Easter to all!! And what a wonderful Easter it was. I just want to share that I am so grateful for my Savior and grateful for His sacrifice for me and for all. That we can repent and become clean because of the Atonement and be able to live with our Savior and Heavenly Father again. I am so grateful.

Pat on the back!

I am giving myself a pat on the back for not only being ready for 9:00 church early, but having time to take pictures of the kids in their church clothes!!! ---Now- that doesn't mean we got a good photo---but we're focusing on the fact that we had TIME to take pictures, (not the pictures themselves)....hehehe So here is how our fabulous before church photo shoot went......... "Ashton don't put your arm around Preston"....... "Livia- stop picking your nose!!".................

"Aaron... stop pulling faces"...............

"Come on guys- Look at the camera!"

And this is the best one we got. :) They're all looking at the camera. What a fun bunch!! And Sunday was Preston's 7 month mark! This "bunch" really is my pride and joy. Love you guys!

And here's another pat on the back for being to church on TIME! (Did I mention I do this all by myself since Adam has early meetings--pat on the back was well deserved!!)

Sweet moments

Liv is so tenderhearted. If someone needs something done she does it (at a run), if some one's crying, she's the first to give them a hug--if anyone needs anything- she's there. She cares. This was Livia with Preston when he was just days old........ Now 7 months later.......... She is still so sweet with her baby brother.

Love you Miss Livi----keep smiling! It's a beautiful smile.